The next day, meeting Saki was surprisingly easy. The Asian girl had remained in her seat at break time. Annie took the opportunity to ask her about her English paper.
"Your essays were horrible," Saki summarized, "You're not getting your points across and your arguments were all over the place. Let's start with this one here."
Saki tapped a paragraph on the paper. "Your idea is good but you present no supporting facts. The rest of the paragraph is basically a repeat of the first sentence using different words. Now this here... your point is nothing! Did you even read the books they gave us at the start of the semester?"
The Asian girl systematically commented on each paragraph of Annie's exam paper. The more she talked, the smaller Annie felt, though sparse compliments were offered here and there.
"And this last essay here," Saki continued, "You didn't finish it. Out of time?"
Annie shook her head. "I got tired. My hand wouldn't move."
Saki laid the paper down and sighed. "It's to be expected. We're allowed to type our essays for class but we have to write them out during the exam. Listen, Billings, you have to practice writing by hand. You need to be able to write from the start of the exam until the end without stop."
Overall, Annie began to understand a little of her difficulty with English. It appeared that the subject was more than simply grammar and vocabulary. She also needed to express her opinions and convince the reader. The mountain she had to climb was depressingly tall, especially since she had been kicked down from her previous height.
"Thanks," Annie finally managed a whisper. She accepted her paper back. "Say, uh, for our essay this week, can you help comment on mine?"
Saki thought for a moment. "All right."
A very tiny Annie dragged her depressed self back to her chair and rested her head on her desk. Saki's comments were brutal and she had just asked for more. But if she wished to write better essays, she would have to endure it.
"Wow, getting chewed up by little Saki," Connie's voice came from beside her, "That's unexpected."
"It's to be expected," Annie said without raising her head, "My essays are bad."
"No, I mean Saki dishing out some heavy words. She's usually shy and reserved."
Annie peeked at the redhead. "I suppose even one like her will get passionate if talking about her interest." She dropped her head again. "Now leave me alone. I still have to put myself together."
Connie patted the little girl's head and was gone.
Not a moment had passed and the bell rang, signaling the end of break. The teacher came in right at that moment for the next lesson.
Groan.
***
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